Opinion: Why Rand Paul is Wrong on Syria

This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.

I ... it's a mistake to get involved in the Syrian civil war and what our Sean Carriers ... Kennedy's famous for saying you know how the U S command to the last one to Dr a mistake ... I would ask John Kerry up in U S demand ... for it ... welcome to Opinion Journal I'm Mary Kissel hope everybody had a good labor day ... that was Senator Rand Paul making the case for non intervention ... in Syria civil war ... global view calmness Bret Stephens is here to make the opposite case ... Brett welcome ... to the speaker on the ... last one first class Visa demagoguery and ... with all the so the theocracy cases Senator Rand Paul because ... his point is that there's a civil war it's going to keep going on white you wanna put ... U S troops on the line ... look let me ask you ... do we want ... Assad to win ... do we want Hizbollah so when ... do we want Iran to consolidate its position in the Middle East ... do we want Vladimir Putin to have a new client in ... the Middle East as the Soviet Union and this area as reliable client in the Middle East ... people warranty against this intervention ... need to make a clear case why they are okay with the idea of a cyber remaining in power ... and by the way ... do we really want I mean I know that that Brock Obama says for the on this editoral page no one's idea of the best president we've ever had ... okay ... the deal we want the president ... to be ... had his forty his executive authority and future presidents executive authority ... being undercut by this false constitutional argument ... that somehow the president needs to go with us for Congress's permission ... um up for any kind of military intervention ... and started on here ... for thirty years Republicans fought acts like the war powers Act which permits a constraint presidential authority when Ronald Reagan invaded Grenada he did not consult a single member of Congress's is Rand Paul to stay low rated should of been impeached for that well look I hear a lot of strands of argument there I wanna focus less for focus first on the president there is a Wall Street Journal news story today that sent ... President Obama has even follow through on his promise to arm the rebels so why should we trust that this president is go with it he does go into Syria will follow through I and that is a legitimate question we have a very shaky commander in chief was allowed one red line after another ... to be ignored erased of the moves ... and that is that that that that is real issue but now what what is at issue ... is whether we are going to have a Congress essentially issue a no confidence vote ... in presidential authority ... when we have a meal of real issue on the line does does push our Assad ... take the signal ... that he used chemical weapons ok in violation of law ... and in violation of American well ... and got away with that with the consent of the American Congress that it's an interesting is that the message to be sending a practice push our Assad but every other to bits of who is looking at whether the United States to the police world order or withdraw from that will ... if you love to know if the region prior to this use of chemical weapons Charlotte side ... nominally a friend of the nine states but not really a lot of Iranian influence there ... let's say we let them stay in power ... Tehran's influence how is that housing increased breath I mean if they had influence over the region before has accepted this time because one ... they had defied the United States they have defied international community ... it defied an effort by the Sunni Arab world's overs so that overthrow a menorah Terry dictatorship ... and they have won and they are already on the cusp of having the ability to produce nuclear weapons but in small numbers but in large numbers there creating an industrial scale ... nuclear capability ... by the way whatever influence we have remaining in Iraq and this is largely Obama spoke to be squandered the gains that we made in Iraq ... Iraq wonder stand ... that it now exists as part of an art in a Shiite crescent ... and it will increasingly come under the rain Aeon's sway ... so even that ... limited game budget however much that was squandered is going to be in euro did completely if we allow that to eleven lesson thirty seconds left what is it mean for Israel it's people like Senator Rand Paul in his argument for males ... what it means that this film is now ... it now one now understand will take the lesson ... that when the United States this president says ... I will not allow Iran to get a nuclear weapon he doesn't really mean it or he's going to consult Congress or the United States is going to chicken out one where the other ... that is going to be an incentive for is filled to take a highly risky ... unilateral strike to do with a rent the rainy Nuclear prom because United States for ... that is the likely source of the Week serious regional conflict ... then ... then then American tactics Sophia still is taking lessons United States is an unreliable ally and bodily SOEs Taiwan ... South Korea and every other country that relies on us for securities located global view calmness Bret Stephens thank you so much for your comments